This policy paper presents key findings and suggestions on Malaysias old-age financial protection system within the context of the countrys broader social security framework.
... See More + The trademark policy approach focusing on job creation instead of expanding social security programs served the country well to move it quickly to a high-middle income level. But to join the club of high-income countries in a sustainable manner may require the country to review its approach to social security, including the way old-age income support is provided, and to address the main current weaknesses: fragmentation across economic sectors, lack of an enabling political environment, incomplete benefit coverage, low mandated savings level, and inadequate disbursement options given the challenges of projected population aging and socioeconomic shifts. To address the old-age financial protection challenge, the paper outlines two key options for Malaysia's employees provident fund, the country's central pension pillar: (i) moving from a mere retirement savings investment fund to a fully-fledged pension fund that offers some minimum annuities; or (ii) more radically, moving the benefits toward a non-financial defined contribution scheme with the funds resources used as its major reserve fund. Whatever approach is considered, the reform discourse will benefit from changes in the overall governance structure of social security and from a comprehensive research agenda that offers an evidence based decision making.
See Less -

This paper examines China's rural minimum living standard guarantee (dibao) program, one of the largest targeted transfer schemes in the world.
... See More + Using household survey data matched with published administrative data, the authors provide background on the patterns of inequality and poverty in rural China, describe the dibao program, estimate the program's impact on poverty, and carry out targeting analysis. The authors find that the program provides sufficient income to poor beneficiaries but does not substantially reduce the overall level of poverty, in part because the number of beneficiaries is small relative to the number of poor. Conventional targeting analysis reveals rather large inclusionary and exclusionary targeting errors; propensity score targeting analysis yields smaller but still large targeting errors. Simulations of possible reforms to the dibao program indicate that expanding coverage can potentially yield greater poverty reduction than increasing transfer amounts. In addition, replacing locally diverse dibao lines with a nationally uniform dibao threshold can in theory reduce poverty. The potential gains in poverty reduction, however, depend on the effectiveness of targeting.
See Less -

This paper takes stock of methods to profile the unemployed in public employment services (PESs) in OECD countries, in order to single out suitable approaches for PES in emerging economies.
... See More + Profiling should enable PESs to segment jobseekers into groups with similar risk of work-resumption, and in turn to determine their level of access to different levels of treatment. In our framework PESs rely to a varying extent on (i) case worker discretion and on (ii) data-intensive approaches. On one hand of the spectrum, PESs may allocate interventions on a first-come-first-serve basis according to broad eligibility criteria (age, unemployment duration). This is likely to either induce deadweight loss or to delay treatment. Most often case managers judgment, steered by qualitative guidelines, also plays a role. In this case outcomes depend strongly on the available time and capacity of case managers. An alternative approach is to exploit data about jobseekers to determine the probability of work-resumption according to a statistical model, which then allows the identification of customers most likely to need active labor market interventions. We argue that for PES in emerging economies that show limited case management experience and high customer load, statistical profiling could be a suitable tool to maximize the impact of their scarce resources.
See Less -

The Skills Towards Employability and Productivity (STEP) program was designed to better understand the interplay between skills on the one hand and employability and productivity on the other.
... See More + The STEP program developed survey instruments tailored to collect data on skills in low- and middle-income country contexts. The present note is a reference document for readers seeking background information on the STEP surveys and for users of the data, which is publicly available through the World Banks Microdata Catalog. The note describes the design of the survey instruments and the constructs measured as well as the technical standards and implementation protocols adopted to ensure data quality and comparability across countries. It also provides guidance to users for the construction of aggregated skills indicators and for the use of the reading literacy assessment data.
See Less -

This paper reviews key issues in the 'cash versus food' debate, including as they relate to political economy, theory, evidence, and practice.
... See More + In doing so, it benefited from a new generation of 12 impact evaluations deliberately comparing alternative transfer modalities. Findings show that differences in effectiveness vary by indicator, although they tend to be moderate on average. In some cases differences are more marked (i.e., food consumption and calorie availability), but in most instances they are not statistically significant. In general, transfers' performance and their difference seem a function of the organic and fluid interactions among factors like the profile and 'initial conditions' of beneficiaries, the capacity of local markets, and program objectives and design. Costs associated with cash transfers and vouchers tend to be substantially lower relative to food. Yet methods for cost-effectiveness analysis vary and need to be more standardized and nuanced. The reviewed evaluations are helping to shift the debate from one shaped by ideology, political economy and 'inference' of evidence to one centering on robust and context-specific results.
See Less -

How much do countries spend on social protection? Do social protection programs cover all poor people? And, how well are they targeted? It is notoriously hard to find comprehensive cross-country data on social protection programs which can help answer such questions and allow to benchmark social protection systems.
... See More + The World Banks Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Social Protection Database attempts to fill these knowledge gaps by collecting and systematizing data on social protection programs from both administrative sources and household surveys. The data assembled provides a powerful tool to study trends and analyze program performance as well as benchmark countries social protection systems. We found both expected and unexpected trends in spending on social protection and coverage of social protection programs across countries. Between 2000 and 2010 expenditure on social assistance nearly tripled. At a program level, conditional cash transfer programs ceased to dominate social assistance spending, with the exception of Mexico, and have come second to social pension spending in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Labor market programs remain small and fragmented, but show much more counter-cyclical patterns.
See Less -

The new social insurance law introduced by the Jordanian government in 2010 was created in part to improve the likelihood of womens employment through non- and gender specific changes.
... See More + This study, which comprised individual interviews and focus groups with Jordanian women and men, employers and opinion leaders, was designed to elicit an understanding of their awareness and knowledge of the new law, designed to increase womens employment - primarily the maternity insurance provision. Those affected by the law remained largely uninformed. Many employers communicated that they did not perceive it as cost neutral for their firms. Participants who were aware of the law, viewed the changes positively and believed with the right circumstances, the law could increase female employment.
See Less -

This review examines World Bank support to social safety nets between FY2007-13, including both financing and knowledge services. During this time period World Bank financing for safety nets totaled just over United States (U.S.) 12 billion dollars, 273 financing activities in 93 countries, the World Bank spent approximately U.S. 118 million dollars on 281 safety net studies and supported approximately 129 credible safety net impact evaluations covering in 24 countries.
... See More + Among the 93 countries represented in the portfolio, 42 received little or no safety net support from the World Bank prior to FY2007. The growth in Bank support is especially notable during the period of the food, fuel, and financial crises. The analysis delves into these trends by region, type of intervention, and instruments involved. Finally, it delineates implications and outlook for the future based on lessons learned, results measured, and evaluative evidence.
See Less -

The Sudanese population has suffered from years of conflict, and deep-seated security issues have severely hampered Sudans long-term economic stability and social development.
... See More + As a consequence, Sudan is struggling to meet its MDGs. Since the secession of South Sudan, Sudan has lost a considerable part of its oil production and fiscal revenues. At the same time, the Government recognizes social safety nets as important instruments for reducing poverty. This report provides an analysis of the state of social safety nets in Sudan which shows that Sudans existing safety net programs are limited in coverage, lack coordination, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The report suggests (i) reallocation of savings from the fuel subsidy reform to targeted pro-poor safety net programs; (ii) strengthening of the existing safety net through monitoring the outcomes, strong controls and social accountability, and a culture of evaluation, and (iii) development of a coherent National Social Protection Policy.
See Less -

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and a very high proportion of the population experiences frequent shocks, whether from natural disasters, economic shocks or internal crises of governance.
... See More + As a consequence, about half the countrys population is undernourished. Children between the ages of 6 and 14 face the risks of low human capital development, child labor and marginalization. On the other hand, the Government of Madagascars commitment to social protection as a national policy was never fully effective. Interventions in social protection have been developed on an ad-hoc basis, often on the initiative of donors. In order to inform the governments policy development, the report proposes a social protection strategy that increases the protection of the population while decreasing its vulnerability, taking into account the existing programs and the differences in exposure to risks between population groups recommendations that emerge from the research.
See Less -

The report lays out options to use social safety nets to meet the goal set by the Government of Botswana to eradicate extreme poverty by 2016 and in a budget neutral way.
... See More + Introducing a Family Support Grant is argued to be a more efficient way to address absolute poverty by offering a family benefit to all the families in absolute poverty. Reforms in the Ipelegeng public works program would allow addressing existing shortcomings associated with coverage, targeting, generosity, and wrong labor incentives. The combination of the above will allow for a better weaving of the Social Safety Nets to ensure that the goal of lifting 16% of population from absolute poverty by 2016 is achieved.
See Less -

Using a simple framework, this paper discusses the underlying reason of the variation of threshold level in developed countries, from the least generous 20 percent to around 60 percent of median wage, with an average of 35 percent.
... See More + The generosity of minimum guarantee social assistance programs is deeply rooted in social values and principles that further underpin the policy objectives. Many Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries set their policy targets for minimum living standard programs beyond basic needs and aim to guarantee a minimum socially acceptable level for a decent living. Thresholds are also refined to reflect the differences in family size and demographic structure, difference in regional cost of living and changes in prices and local wages. In some countries the thresholds show some regional variation due to local discretionary powers of sub-national authorities to set the threshold depending on the co-financing mechanisms. These lessons are valuable for China as the Chinese government has made efforts to standardize the implementation and management of its own minimum income guarantee (Di Bao) programs. The policy recommendations for China include accelerating the convergence of localized approaches, raising the administrative level for setting thresholds to higher level, defining the roles of central and local governments in financing and management, and establishing a transparent budgetary management system to transfer and allocate social assistance funds.
See Less -

This paper examines the role of social protection (SP) in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), given their particular structural, human resource and capacity constraints.
... See More + While it focuses on SIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, the lessons may be relevant to other SIDS with similar challenges. Caribbean SIDS have made significant commitment to address the needs of the vulnerable, as reflected by their level of SP spending, and the numerous safety net programs, labor market interventions, and insurance schemes. Nevertheless gaps remain, as many vulnerable groups are underserved and the systems show limited responsiveness to shocks. This is further hampered by duplication of efforts which limits the efficiency of interventions. The paper recommends a series of systemic efforts to: 1) harmonize SP systems and policies across the region to better respond to increased regional mobility; 2) consolidate SP programs within countries to improve efficiency; 3) foster key human capital improvements among the poor to break inter-generational transmission of poverty; 4) improve monitoring and evaluation systems and data collection capacity to facilitate more responsive SP programs; and 5) increase partnerships with civil society and private sector. At the thematic level, the paper recommends: a) improving the responsiveness to economic and environmental shocks; b) improving efficiency and effectiveness of social safety net programs, in particular cash transfer programs; c) tailoring labor market interventions to respond to constraints faced in the SIDS context; and d) reforming social insurance schemes, particularly pension schemes, to address current deficiencies and ensure readiness to respond to impending ageing.
See Less -

Cash transfers have proliferated in the past decade as key policy instruments to tackle vulnerability and inequality. Payment mechanisms (PMs), the backbone of cash transfers, are the channels through which cash travels from the funding source to the hands of beneficiaries.
... See More + In theory, the harmonization of payment flows in PMs with other program processes is critical to delivering the right benefit to the right people at the right time while minimizing costs. In reality, however, PMs tend to remain disconnected, rendering payments inefficient and plagued by error, fraud and corruption. In recent years, program operators, financial institutions, and technology innovators have developed strategies for streamlining payment flows. These innovations, if properly integrated into program management through a Management Information System (MIS) and supported by rigorous outreach, can not only promote efficiency and transparency but also ensure effectiveness. This paper provides a framework for integrating PMs within program management. It walks the reader through seven basic steps to process payments. It does so by articulating the flow of beneficiary information and funds from the point of beneficiary enrollment to payment reconciliation and grievance redress. It also looks at the framework through the lenses of different cash transfer interventions and the cases of Kenya, Rwanda, and Mexico. The paper concludes that to execute successful PMs it is key to: (i) integrate payments within an MIS; (ii) adopt a cost-effective mix of traditional and technology instruments suitable to the country's context in the short and long run; (iii) decentralize the control and accountability of service provision across government levels; (iv) understand the capacity and incentives of stakeholders; (v) provide manuals, training and information to key players; and (vi) enforce payment parameters and penalize their violation.
See Less -

Training programs mainly address market failures related to lack of skills (technical, cognitive, non-cognitive). This paper conducts a comprehensive review of training programs effectiveness in developing countries.
... See More + Based on relevant international experiences, the paper highlights key design features associated with program success as well as implementation challenges and discusses their policy implication. Success of training programs is deeply related with the content of the skills provided and how well they serve the local labor demand (demand-driven design) and with the presence of a sound governance structure for training providers and beneficiaries. In particular, the effectiveness of training programs for youth tends to be higher when a 'comprehensive' approach is taken by combining different types of training with complementary support services. The ultimate goal is to inform new program design and improve the performance of current training programs.
See Less -

This paper reviews the main challenges facing countries in attempting to improve labor market outcomes among youth, focusing on the issues that became starkly visible during the recent financial crisis.
... See More + In order to better identify and set up human development interventions, the paper proposes an agenda that focuses on three areas: (1) improving the understanding of the causes and consequences of poor labor market outcomes for youth; (2) continuing to learn from the evaluation of pilots and programs that aim to promote productive employment among young people; and (3) addressing implementation issues which frequently overwhelm the best designs. The paper utilizes research on youth employment to take stock of youth labor market outcomes across regions, focusing on inactivity, unemployment, and employment indicators. A review of what is known about current interventions, including those that appear in the youth employment Inventory database of programs, provides the basis for determining the efficacy of five categories of intervention: (i) skills training (including vocational training, on-the-job-training programs, literacy and numeracy programs, second-chance and equivalency programs, and soft-skills programs); (ii) entrepreneurship promotion (financial assistance, technical assistance, and entrepreneurship training); (iii) subsidized employment (including wage subsidy programs, public works, and public/community service programs); (iv) employment services (including search assistance and access to labor market information, job counseling and placement services, and financial assistance for job search); and (v) reforms to labor market regulation (including anti-discrimination legislation) training programs, wage subsidies. Finally, the paper proposes an agenda for research and policy analysis in the area of human development that is expected to help both deepen the understanding of youth employment issues and improve the selection, design, and implementation of youth employment programs.
See Less -

This assessment provides recommendations to help the government of Sierra Leone to put its Social Protection Policy into action. Ten years after civil war, and in the aftermath of the global crises, the key challenge for Sierra Leone in the area of social protection is to move from ad hoc emergency interventions towards a national social protection system.
... See More + The assessment reviews current programs in light of risks and vulnerabilities faced by Sierra Leoneans during different stages of life. It concludes that to achieve the vision of the Social Protection Policy, it will be necessary to (a) fill program gaps while eliminating fragmentation; (b) develop effective mechanisms to maximize the poverty impact of interventions; and (c) strengthen institutional and coordination arrangements.
See Less -

This report shows that while more inclusive growth is the ultimate solution to poverty in Lesotho, the country can and should use selective social transfers to reduce poverty more rapidly among the extreme poor.
... See More + But because the majority of the transfers are received by people who are not among the extreme poor there is room for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of spending on safety nets which. These programs should be productive and concentrate on the extreme poor Basotho. In the long run, Lesotho should move towards a more consolidated safety net and strengthen existing programs, such as the Child Grants Program, that already provide some important and positive outcomes and enjoy strong popular and political support.
See Less -

Several middle income countries are considering reforms of severance pay regulations to both increase flexibility for firms and better protect workers.
... See More + Policy discussions then often revolve around whether to adopt an unemployment insurance (UI) scheme or unemployment individual savings accounts (UISAs). Proponents of the first emphasize its ability to pool risks and introduce an element of solidarity. Critics point to its potentially negative effects on labor supply as individuals can have fewer incentives to seek, take or keep jobs. In this paper, the authors show that UI and UISAs are, in fact, particular cases of a more general design and that the crucial policy choice is in terms of how redistribution - to cover benefits for those who cannot save enough is financed. The authors outline key features of this general design and discuss trade-offs and possible solutions. The authors discusses issues related to implementation and show how recent technological developments around biometric identification can facilitate the monitoring of conditionalities related to participation in job-search and training activities.
See Less -

Fostering entrepreneurship is widely perceived to be a critical policy agenda to expand employment and earning opportunities and to reduce poverty.
... See More + Sound macroeconomic conditions and business environment including infrastructure, regulation, and legal environment have typically been emphasized to increase entrepreneurial activities and create jobs. While these remain relevant, in developing countries, increasing attention is being paid to the role of labor policies that aim to reduce constraints and enhance productivity among the self-employed and small-scale entrepreneurs. The next section describes the procedure for constructing data and discusses main features of the entrepreneurship programs in our sample studies. Section three presents a standardization and estimation strategy using Meta regressions and discusses methodology. Section four then discusses the main findings of the Meta analysis. Finally, Section five concludes the study.
See Less -